I've read a few scathing reviews of the book, and having read some of Brooks' columns, I'm inclined to stay away. He might be a slightly better writer than Thomas Friedman though, but that's not saying much. http://www.salon.com/books/review/2011/03/04/pz_myers_on_david_brooks_the_social_animal I l...

Although I am hostile to Lolita as a masterwork, I have to agree scarlet, that accusing Nabokov of being in the closet on eroticizing children goes too far. Nabokov is a polemicist, primarily, even if he is Anglophile. Russian authors like exposing American materialism as something horrid, tweaking ...

For the time being, this is my rule relating to group discussions of texts: 1. If it is in my personal library and I am ready to read it or reread it then I will join in. 1a. I will not buy or loan from library unless I was going to do that independently of the discussion. 2. I will only make sugges...

A recent title that I felt took on too many challenges and failed was Edward O'Dell's Three Minutes More, a domestic abuse story that takes place in 1970's Appalachia in the voice of an eight year old narrator. O'Dell handles the dynamic of family conflict much better than he handles physical and se...

Hi DFC, Of the authors you mention, David Foster Wallace tests my resilience. I am writing an essay on his suicide, although some scholars have already done some amazing research on this. I have a grudging respect for McCarthy, can deal with Ellroy when he is not too graphic, though I admit I was no...

This is a bit dated, I'm afraid, but The Human Animal by Desmond Morris had a huge impact on me in university. (My memory seems to have skewed the dates, but no matter, his theories launched my interest in how anthropology and evolution conjoin.)

Although I am not prepared to deal with the specific details at this moment, I actually think Dickens' original ending for Great Expectations makes it one of his greatest novels, and he was wrong to take the advice from his friends to change it.

I am not sure I actually mislaid my ME text, or if the professor used an edition I did not own, because I still have a text of Middle English ballads from the same class. Maybe you'd have more use for this than I would, actually, so I'll consider mailing it to you, as it was before your time and the...

I believe Sprezzatura is online friend of mine, and she may correct me if I'm wrong, but Ciao amico mio! I am very proud of her, but it is her choice to spill the beans. :) She is very eloquent when it comes to Chaucer and Dante! Speaking of which, Sprezza, I have three Divine Comedy translations, b...

I am going to link this discussion to my blog, as I will have more constructs to offer in building a thesis. Do Cam or Lucky have a problem if I refer to their posts, or anyone else that has an opinion?